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Our team runs the gamut of business experience. With more than 100,000 hours behind them in a broad array of consultancy and business ventures, you can be certain that your personal advisors will have the expertise to best counsel you on how to reach your start-up goals.
Furthr
Guinness Enterprise Centre
Taylors Lane
The Liberties
Dublin 8
D08 A36K
Ryan joined Furthr as a Digital Media Content Creator in April 2024 after making the move from the UK to Ireland.
He previously spent 5 years at multiple large organisations in the UK, driving their content creation and output across many different platforms.
With a wide range of skills and experience in content creation, Ryan will bring some fun and creativity to Furthr’s content in the start-up world.
Declan is a seasoned tech startup founder who exited StitcherAds in 2021 to a New York Adtech company for $64m. He has been full-time operating and executing startups since 2007. StitcherAds is a Waterford HQ company in the paid social vertical. Declan was also employee no1 in Xbolt Orthopaedics back in 2008 and a current board member. Declan is active in the startup system in Ireland and further afield and brings a wealth of startup experience to the board.
JP is a former CEO of Ogilvy Group and is currently Country Manager of WPP in Ireland. WPP has over 450 employees in fully owned and associated companies across the Communications industry in Ireland. JP is also Chairman of Alexandra Dental, Prominate, a promotional materials network, and self coaching platform, Zelfio. JP is a qualified executive coach, and provides personal support to a number of different leaders and businesses.
Michael started his career in industrial marketing and management consultancy in London and Paris.
He managed a number of key operations in Enterprise Ireland including Head of Tech start-ups and High Growth Markets. He spent 10 years in Germany heading up EI’s European Network. He has in-depth experience in supporting start-ups and working with Scaling Companies to enter and grow in international markets.
Michael is a certified Business Coach, a Board member of Baldoyle Family Resource Centre and a member of the Germany Group of the Institute of International and European Affairs.
Niranjana joined Furthr in October 2023, after graduating with first-class honors in International Marketing & Entrepreneurship from the University of Galway. She previously spent three years at a Berlin-based mediatech start-up, where she excelled in marketing and content management. With a diverse background in Literature and Philosophy, along with prior experience at a digital marketing agency, Niranjana now contributes her versatile skills to Furthr’s dynamic marketing team.
Paul is a business consultant at Furthr. Paul has deep experience as an entrepreneur, having co-founded, built up and exited three technology companies over the last 25 years. Paul has a keen passion for tech start-ups and small enterprises due to their ingenuity, courage, creativity, tenacity, drive and capacity to compete with big businesses. Paul has a particular interest in Machine Learning, Deep Learning and AI.
Aisling joined the Furthr team in November 2022. Previously, Aisling managed a multi-purpose studio space where she facilitated countless media productions, live performances and events while also developing programmes for artists and the local community, improving operations, and growing commercial opportunities.
Aisling brings her creative management experience and hands on approach to her role at Furthr, where she coordinates workshops, training programmes and events that support start-up founders and corporate clients.
Thierry is a founder, entrepreneur and senior executive with a broad international experience of over 30 years including 12 in Africa, in a variety of Business sectors, such as the Fintech, SaaS, Investment, Telecom and Technology.
He also has an extensive funding experience as he was involved in multiple large successful fundraising exercises.
Rachel joined Furthr in September 2022. She has three years’ experience working with Start-up’s and SME’s having worked with Meath Local Enterprise Office in delivering a wide range of business supports.
Rachel holds a 1st class honours degree in Accounting and Finance from DCU and a Level 8 Certificate in Business Analysis from NCI.
Rachel’s current role is working with The Innovation Exchange as a Programme Co-ordinator.
Lisa has been a part of the Furthr family since 2013. For 5 years, she worked in the GEC transforming the Marketing & Events activities of the centre – excelling at customer retention, digital marketing & public relations.
In 2018, Lisa was promoted to Operations Manager of Furthr’s second enterprise centre, Space on Dawson St. Space on Bride St soon followed in 2020, where she also led the team.
Over the years, Lisa has been a Project Co-Ordinator and part of the core team organising the Furthr Festival event at Dublin’s Convention Centre for 1,600+ people.
Now a HR Operations Executive, Lisa is a team player, analytical thinker with a ‘can-do’ attitude. She holds two degrees in Business also has vast knowledge and working experience in the Hospitality & Events Industries.
Julian is a business development professional with over 20 years international experience in Telecoms, ICT, Cleantech, Education, NGO and FMCG sectors. Currently he delivers investor-ready business planning and consulting to start-up and scaling companies. He also manages a number of Halo Business Angel Network syndicates and chairs the HBAN Dublin Investor Forum. Julian has a 1st class MSc in E-Commerce and a degree in Business and Marketing from DCU. He also holds postgraduate diplomas in Corporate Finance, and in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Conor is a highly experienced business executive who has held senior management positions across all commercial disciplines in telecoms and retail functions. He is a highly professional, results-focused individual with strategic, operational and entrepreneurial qualities.
His core area of expertise is developing and implementing business strategies, mentoring and developing teams to deliver success with a clear focus on results. Conor has held a number of senior director level roles in the Irish Telecom Sector, heading up Marketing functions in Vodafone, Meteor and Eircom.
He is highly experienced in the areas of Business strategy, Commercial Strategy, Business Start Up, Marketing and Communications, People and Program Management.
Ronan, a chartered accountant and management consultant, has 40+ years’ experience assisting early-stage companies and entrepreneurs. A former partner in BDO Simpson Xavier, Ronan has served as director and chair of several public and private entities and is a former president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He was also on the board of Special Olympics Ireland.
Deirdre is a Chartered Director of the IoD, a Lean Business Consultant, Mentor & Advisor. An Engineering graduate of TCD, Deirdre began her career in Digital (DEC) before starting her own entrepreneurial journey. She was co-founder and CEO of Zandar Technologies plc from 1999, which was acquired by Harris Corporation in 2007. Deirdre serves on the boards of BRE Global Ireland, Globalization Partners Ireland and previously NSAI, and is a great advocate of female entrepreneurship and women in STEM.
Eugene is an Investment Manager for Furthr Managed Funds, including the €53m AIB Seed Capital Fund where he manages the fast-growth technology portfolio. He has been a retained management consultant in the venture capital industry for over 15 years and is a consultant on a variety of European Commission initiatives for cross-border investment and technology-led programmes. His specialist areas include telecoms, new media, ICT, eCommerce, games and emerging platform technologies.
Ciara has over 30 years’ experience working with start-ups, SMEs and large companies in IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland (EI) across a range of industry sectors. She combines strategic, business, financial, process and change management skills with a track record of client management experience. An MBA graduate of DCU, Ciara is currently Manager of the Commercial Evaluation Department within EI and has a deep understanding of the funding needs and challenges of companies at all stages of growth.
Fiona has over 20 years’ experience as founder and director of life sciences startups, winning multiple awards in data science/AI and innovation, and achieving successful exit. She has also held international executive roles in Goldman Sachs and Diageo, and has experience managing major transformation projects. She is a Chartered Director and has been Chair and non-Executive Director of a number of commercial and not-for-profit entities, including Vhi Health & Wellbeing.
Dr. Rosalind Beere is a Business Consultant with Furthr, with leading expertise and experience in the areas of strategy, franchising and entrepreneurship. She has designed and delivered strategic management training for a range of third-level institutions and has authored several books and publications. Ros blends a highly analytical and creative approach to problem solving in her consulting engagements, to aid clients in the identification, understanding and management of problems and opportunities.
Martin is a senior business leader, founder, entrepreneur and mentor with 30 years’ experience in the telecoms and digital media sectors. Martin founded ‘Interactive Return’, Ireland’s first online marketing agency, then successfully exited the business when it was acquired by Publicis. Martin completed five years in senior sales management roles with Google. As CEO, Martin’s role is to ensure that Furthr delivers game-changing impacts for Start-Up and Scale-Up Founders.
Michael is an internationally experienced business executive with a blend of technical, sales, financial, and entrepreneurial skills. He has assisted over 120+ companies attract over €60M in seed investment funding. Michael is dedicated to leading the Furthr team in supporting the next generation of Irish entrepreneurs.
Saurabh is an Associate at Furthr VC. His role focuses on the origination, evaluation and execution of early-stage investment opportunities, leveraging deep knowledge of the ICT, IoT, Fintech, and AI sectors.
Previously an Investment Research Analyst at HBAN, prior to this Saurabh was a Senior Analyst in the global investment firm BNY Mellon, where he worked on a diverse range of technologies (Startups and Enterprises) used in financial institutions and led data science R&D projects for the BNY Mellon clients.
Saurabh holds a 1st class honours degree in Electronics Engineering with specialisation in Signal Processing & Wireless Communication from VIT, India and a 1st class MSc degree in Quantitative Finance from UCD Smurfit Business School and Yale School of Management.
Emma is a highly passionate digital marketer, with a specific interest in SEM, SEO, and direct B2B & B2C marketing. Despite her expertise in digital marketing, during her 6 years working at Furthr, Emma has also worked across many brand experiential campaigns to include Furthr Festival and Funding & Scaling- not to mention her experience working as an events manager for global music icons while living in Canada.
Emma enjoys meeting and collaborating with founders at all stages of their journey. Her focus is now bringing this relentless energy to growing the Furthr brand by developing a best in class, results driven Digital Marketing Strategy.
Oonagh Fox is a corporate communications advisor and has worked closely with Furthr over the past ten years. She previously held a client director role at Drury Porter Novelli, Ireland’s leading public relations consultancy. At Furthr, Oonagh played a lead role in creating and developing Furthr Festival, the fast-growing annual event that explores the business opportunities arising from new innovations and emerging technologies. Currently Oonagh works on strategy and communications for The Innovation Exchange, a new initiative that connects large businesses facing digital transformation challenges to technology scale ups that can fast track solutions, accelerating business transformation for both.
Colm is a Managing Partner at Furthr VC. He has over 10 years’ experience in venture capital and private equity, investing in companies across Europe and North America. Colm has a passion for working with entrepreneurs and management teams to successfully grow and scale companies.
Previously Colm was a Ventures Principal at OGCI Climate Investments, a $1B+ fund that invests in solutions to decarbonise the energy, industrial, and commercial transportation sectors. Prior to this Colm was an Investment Professional at Pioneer Point Partners, a pan-European private equity investor focused on the energy and environment sectors.
Colm holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Finance from University College Cork and an MSc in Philosophy of the Social Sciences from the London School of Economics.
Richard is Managing Partner of Furthr VC, one of the most active early-stage VC investors in the country. He has worked in venture capital for over 15 years and, prior to this, spent almost a decade in industry in R&D and operations in the medical device and semiconductor industries in Sweden, Ireland and the US.
Richard has a 1st class honours degree in Electronic Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, a Research M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and a 1st class MBA from Durham University.
Ronan is a Chartered Accountant who has over twenty five years’ experience as a finance professional. Ronan spent much of his career working in financial services in London for companies such as Deutsche Bank, ING Barings and CIT Group, but has also spent time working as an independent financial control consultant and as a senior operational executive in the public sector. Ronan has extensive experience in supporting businesses which were both strategically dynamic and budgetarily constrained, and consequently recognises the importance of a Finance team that can provide a lean, commercially-orientated partnership to both the business and its clients.
Paula is an experienced Human Resource Professional with an extensive background in the insurance, customer service and retail sectors which she has consolidated and broadened in the start-up eco-system. She is a natural networker and communicator with 6 years’ experience working with start-ups and business angels in the areas of entrepreneurial workshops development, project management and events through her operational involvement at Furthr. Paula is dedicated to highlighting, growing and enhancing Furthr’s Employer profile and Employee Relations.
Maura joined Furthr in January 2022, as Operations Assistant in Space and is now an Executive Assistant at the GEC. Maura brings with her a wealth of experience as an Executive Assistant, delivering a high standard of support and customer service. Maura has worked in the non-profit sectors for 10 years with roles as Front of House and Room Hire Manager. Maura enjoyed a successful career working in insurance, underwriting and compliance for many years. Mauras role within the Furthr team is vital to keeping operations and the office running smoothly.
A native of Kerry, Eamonn since 2012 has very successfully managed and promoted the Guinness Enterprise Centre. In 2018, the GEC was recognized as being the No. 1 Business Incubator – Collaborating with University in the world. He successfully lead an €11m expansion scaling the GEC to be Ireland’s global entrepreneurial super-hub, interconnecting the regional centres in Ireland with global university partners.
In this role, Eamonn works with entrepreneurs, start-ups / early-stage companies, state development agencies, not-for-profit organisations and commercial businesses in the areas of strategy, business planning, general management, fundraising and investment. He has strategically positioned the GEC as one of the leading start-up hubs in Europe through innovative projects like the Hub Partnerships and University program.
Early in his career, Eamonn worked with the National Safety Council where he introduced the hard-hitting road safety advertisements of the 2000s. He also worked with the IRFU and was responsible for developing Irish rugby’s strategic plan “Building on Solid Foundations 2008-2012” which coincided with the most successful time in Irish rugby history. He is also an international sevens rugby referee.
Gary is an Investment Consultant for HBAN, sourcing & selecting investor ready deal flow for a network of over 700 Business Angels. Gary has been a leader in the start-up and innovation space in Ireland for over a decade, providing the commercial leadership at NDRC where he invested in over 300 early stage ventures. With over 20 years of experience as a founder, mentor to and investor in technology start-ups, he advises ventures on investment strategy, business model design and go-to-market strategies
Fiona is a consultant on BIC Dublin Investor Ready Programme and HBAN. Fiona is an experienced entrepreneur / business consultant, a self-starter and problem solver focused on building interpersonal relationships with integrity to define and execute strategic and business goals.
Over 10 years’ experience advising high performance start up and early stage tech companies on investor ready business plans, financial statement preparation, go to market strategy, later stage organisational design, defining business goals, business development & sales strategy, early stage seed fundraising and later stage funding.
Fiona has worked alongside an experienced /entrepreneur, Non Exec/Angel Investor, as part of a team which has advised a number of high profile companies on investment and strategic growth to ultimately deliver and realise value. These companies have included; Brown Bag Animation, an Oscar winning Animation company, Corvil an Irish Fin Tech Company, Clavis Insight, Dualog, Amartus, Tango all of which were successfully acquired.
With more than two decades’ experience as a co-founder and board member, Niamh has a passion and flair for market-led innovation, developing and delivering on international growth strategies.
Niamh’s entrepreneurial background includes being co-founder and board member of leading Irish-owned companies Interact and H2O Solutions, both of which were acquired by Bidvest Noonan in 2021.
Prior to joining Furthr, Niamh was an Investment Consultant for the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) for over 5 years, where she managed and grew HBAN’s overseas angel syndicates in London, New York, Singapore and Dubai.
Donna worked in sales and client account management for companies like Vodafone, eBay and Microsoft before Furthr. Donna works within the marketing team at Furthr, delivering events, managing social media and email communications, and carrying out digital marketing activities.
Siobhán is an experienced professional administrator who joined the HBAN team in 2017. Her primary background is in higher education and the arts from which she draws extensively as part of her work in the start-up eco-system.
With considerable experience in event management, recruitment and customer service, Siobhán brings a diverse range of skills to her role in HBAN. In addition, Siobhán specialises in social media, graphic design, website management. She has also worked in theatre across Ireland working as a stage manager and technical director.
Siobhán holds a BA Honours Degree in English (UCD) as well as a qualification in Film Production
Laura has worked in a variety of roles in both Ireland and Australia, including positions in administration, customer service, and recruitment. Since commencing her role with Furthr in 2018, Laura has coordinated workshops, training programmes, reporting, and events. Laura is a strong team player, always committed and willing to go the extra mile. Laura supports other projects, teams and events within the Furthr organisation.
John manages the Furthr Investor Network. He has created and managed companies in Ireland, the UK and in the USA. His domain knowledge is in the A.I, Analytics, ICT, MediaTech, Games & Animation sectors. John is involved with all stages of funding and development from M&A exit transactions, Series A, Seed and R&D.
Clive Brownlee is a former managing director of Guinness Dublin and Guinness Nigeria. He was deputy MD of Diageo Ireland. Clive is a past president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and CIMA Ireland as well as former chairman of the Coombe Hospital Board and of Headway. He is a non-executive director of Sicon Ltd, the holding company for the Sisk construction businesses. Clive is a qualified executive coach.
Claire joined Furthr in 2020 and is experienced in Project & Events Management and Administration across various sectors. In addition to managing Go Furthr, Claire looks after the coordination of various entrepreneurial workshops and programmes. Claire works along side Enterprise Ireland in identifying HPSU start-ups and supporting the start-ups on their scaling journey.
Majella has extensive direct experience in innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialisation across a broad spectrum of technical and scientific domains. She has an intimate knowledge and appreciation of the challenges of starting and scaling businesses. Majella has designed, managed and delivered programmes on guiding new ventures through their difficult journey toward grant and venture capital investment.
Stephanie is the Marketing manager at Furthr and managed the rebrand from Dubin BIC. Previously, Stephanie has worked across a portfolio of global FMCG brands, including brand repositioning projects and new brand and category launches.
Stephanie has a BSc in Management & French and a MSc in Digital Marketing & Analytics. Over her 15 years’ experience in commercial and marketing roles, Stephanie has cultivated her passion for behavioural science, data driven marketing, and digital marketing.
